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Sunil Howlader

” Enter the worlds of Sunil Ranjan Howlader- representation juxtaposed with abstraction-drawn from memories of his childhood in southern village of Barguna, Bangladesh. Spent upon the shore of the Bay of Bengal, ever close to nature at its most elemental, Sunil’s childhood provides myriad images with which he is playing his consummate artistry.

For example, ornately bedecked elephants are rife, recalling countless Hindu festivals he celebrated in his youth. Sunil is also drawn to the elephant because of its placid temperament and innate passivity, qualities lost in the hectic world of contemporary Dhaka, the country’s capital. Temples and bells, with colorful banners and votive candles, also evoke these religious festivals.

Occasionally these temples provide the setting for Bangladeshi women, praying or presenting flowers. These village wives are another recurrent image in Sunil’s work, and one he depicts with special beauty and affection. In the remote Bangladeshi village women form the backbone of home life, busily tending the fires, while their husbands-farmers, artisans or fisherman-go off each day in an attempt to earn a meagre living. These fishermen, or sometimes only fish, nets and baskets, are another oft-encountered theme. The household income depends on the daily catch, and so Sunil always depicts a bountiful piscatorial harvest. similarly itinerant folksingers, or at times simply the folk instruments themselves, are a common image. These travelling folksingers are one of the sole sources of entertainment in farming and fishing villages, and Sunil vividly remembers the joy their music provided.